While cooking recently, I found myself in need of the solid parts of a separated can of coconut milk, leaving me with a good bit of unused coconut milk. Unsure of what to do with it, and unprepared (and unwilling) to make a curry, which is what I typically do with coconut milk, I turned to the internet.

Dear internet, “What to do with extra coconut milk?”

The internet (via Google) provided me with the exact same query on a discussion board of Chowhound.com. The latest comment, displayed at the top, recommended another user’s comment as having worked really well. That comment was about making cocoa panna cotta with the leftover coconut milk. Turns out I had an old box of (strawberry) Jell-o laying about, collecting dust, so why not take a chance?

After reading about the basic gist of panna cotta, I improvised the following recipe:

• Most of a 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk (I estimate 10 oz., but I bet you can just use whole can)
• 1 box (in this case sugar-free) strawberry Jell-o, or equivalent amount of gelatin
• 3 tbsp sugar (I used 2, not enough)
• 1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
• a dash of vanilla extract (I didn’t do this but you should)

Place the coconut milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar until thoroughly homogenized. Raise heat to medium-high and whisk in packet of gelatin, stirring constantly to mix in gelatin. Watch for the boiling point – like real milk, coconut milk will rise very quickly on you when it boils. After this, cut the heat. Rinse two ramekins in cold water and pour the gelatin mixture in. Set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

The result was delightfully appropriate to Valentine’s Day, and surprisingly fancy-pants for such common ingredients and incredibly easy assembly. I think I spent longer deciding to make panna cotta than I actually did making it (unless you count rummaging around the pantry, looking for that dusty old box of Jell-o… but don’t).

As far as the taste/texture goes, I am on the fence, having never made panna cotta before, much less with coconut milk, or subbing in sugar-free Jell-o. It definitely took on strong coconut flavor from the coconut milk. I also think it could have used some vanilla extract and a little more sugar.

But by all accounts of what panna cotta should be, we seem to have hit the mark. I would personally never use flavored Jell-o again, opting instead to go for plain gelatin and adding the desired flavors in by other more natural (and natural-tasting) ways.

If you have made panna cotta before, do let me know what your final product was like! I want to see how close/far off I am!